Creosote, like all pesticides, is comprehensively regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). All creosote producers must obtain and maintain FIFRA registrations for their creosote wood preservative products, which are classified under standards established by the American Wood Protection Association.
Creosote has been continuously registered as a wood preservative active ingredient under FIFRA since 1948. In October 1978 EPA commenced a Special Review to determine whether creosote (as well as two other "heavy duty" wood preservatives, pentachlorophenol and CCA) continued to meet FIFRA's statutory standard for registration. After evaluating the potential health risks posed by these wood preservatives and the significant economic benefits resulting from their use, EPA announced its determination that creosote would continue to meet the statutory standard for registration if creosote (like the other two wood preservatives) were classified for restricted use (i.e., for use only by or under the supervision of certified applicators), and if certain protective clothing and other precautionary requirements for wood treatment workers were added to creosote labeling. In addition to making such label changes, the wood preserving industry, including creosote registrants, agreed to implement a Voluntary Consumer Awareness Program (VCAP), whose centerpiece is distribution of Consumer Information Sheets with treated wood products.
In 1986 EPA commenced reregistration review of creosote, a comprehensive risk-benefit review that FIFRA required for all pesticide active ingredients first registered prior to November 1, 1984. Following preliminary consideration of product chemistry issues, EPA issued a document in 1988 entitled "Guidance for the Reregistration of Pesticide Products Containing Coal Tar / Creosote as the Active Ingredient." That document, commonly referred to as a Registration Standard, required creosote registrants to generate and submit a new scientific data base for creosote, consisting of product chemistry, toxicology, and other types of studies specified by EPA, to support the continued registration of creosote. Reregistration reviews also were commenced for pentachlorophenol and CCA. The Registration Standard process was superseded by the 1988 FIFRA amendments, which added the current FIFRA § 4 reregistration procedures. In accordance with those procedures, EPA placed creosote into the lowest priority for conducting a reregistration review.
The Creosote Council was originally formed specifically to respond to EPA’s reregistration data requirements. Its members have spent more than $12 million conducting state-of-the-art health and safety studies to support reregistration of creosote.
As a result of voluntary label modifications initiated by creosote registrants in 2003, creosote now can be used only for pressure-treatment of wood, primarily railroad crossties, switch ties, and bridge timbers, utility poles, and marine and foundation piling. Virtually all wood railroad ties and related products are pressure-treated with creosote. Those products account for about 80% of creosote wood preservative usage in the United States.
On November 12, 2008 EPA issued a Federal Register notice announcing availability of its Reregistration Eligibility Decisions (REDs) for creosote and the other “heavy duty” wood preservatives. The creosote RED states as follows:
The Agency has determined that all creosote products are eligible for
reregistration . . . .
* * *
EPA has determined that the wood preservative uses of creosote will not pose unreasonable risks to humans or the environment provide that (1) all risk mitigation measures are implemented, (2) label amendments are made as described in [the RED], and (3) current data gaps and confirmatory data requirements are satisfied.
RED at 34-35. The label amendments involve additional pressure-treatment
plant engineering and administrative controls that will further mitigate
occupational risks and enhance the safety of wood treatment workers.
The following links are provided for those wishing to access the Creosote
RED document http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/creosote_red.pdf
and the EPA Summary fact Sheet http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/creosote_main.htm.
Other regulatory frameworks apply to use of certain creosote-treated wood.
Construction projects using marine piling treated with creosote require a permit
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which is responsible for issuing
permits under the federal Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act. USACE,
in turn, must consult with the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) and
the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the Endangered Species Act to ensure
that it is not undertaking, funding, permitting or authorizing any action that
is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or destroy
or adversely modify designated critical habitat.
Follow this link to view the Creosote Treated Wood Consumer Information Sheet
